Political Science · Political Institutions in India
UGC NET 2023 Political Science
Limited franchise was introduced by which of these Acts?
AIndian Council Act, 1892 ✓ Correct
BGovernment of India Act, 1935
CIndia Independence Act, 1947
DNone of these
Correct answer: (A) Indian Council Act, 1892 — Limited franchise was introduced by the Indian Councils Act of 1892, which is option (1).
Explanation
★Limited franchise was introduced by the Indian Councils Act of 1892, which is option (1).
★The 1892 Act marked the first step towards an elective principle in Indian legislative councils, though the term election was carefully avoided.
★It enlarged the size of the legislative councils at both the central and provincial levels.
★It increased the functions of the councils, allowing members to discuss the budget and to ask questions.
★It introduced a system under which some non official members were nominated on the recommendation of bodies such as municipalities, district boards, universities and chambers of commerce.
★This indirect recommendation amounted to a very restricted and limited franchise, since only a tiny, privileged electorate was involved.
★The Act is therefore credited with introducing the principle of limited franchise into Indian governance.
★The Government of India Act 1935 did widen the franchise to about a tenth of the population, but it expanded an electorate that already existed rather than first introducing it.
★So option (2) is not the Act that first introduced limited franchise.
★The Indian Independence Act 1947 dealt with the partition and the transfer of power, not with the franchise, so option (3) is wrong.
★Option (4), None of these, is wrong because the 1892 Act clearly fits the description.
★The 1892 Act was a response to the demands of the early Congress and the Moderates for greater representation.
★The full direct franchise on a limited basis of property, tax or education came later with the Government of India Act 1919.
★The progression of representation runs from the 1861 Act to the 1892 Act, then 1909, 1919 and 1935.
★For NET, fix the Indian Councils Act 1892 as the introducer of a limited, indirect franchise, distinct from the wider franchise of the 1935 Act.
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